The bakery industry in India has now occupied a significant place in industrial sector. It represents one of the largest organised food processing industries in the country having a turn over of Rs.5, 000 crores. The bakery industry produces a variety of products to cater to all sections of population (Vikas Singhal, 1999, Indian Agriculture, Indian Economic Data Research Center, pp 72–83). The annual production of bakery products which includes bread, biscuits, pastries, cakes, rusks etc., most of which are in the unorganised sector, is estimated to be in excess of 30 lakh tonnes (India 2001. Reference Annual, Ministry of Information & Broad Casting, Govt., of India). There is a steady increase in the production and consumption of cakes especially those generally known as Tea cake/Bar cake/Slice cake which are manufactured and marketed on large scale in packed form even by the medium scale baking units. Although cakes may differ substantially in their fat content, they are all definitely benefited by the incorporation of an emulsifier or a combination of emulsifiers. Extremes of fat addition to cakes are represented by pound cake on the one hand, and by sponge cake on the other. Some formulas for pound cake require a weight of shortening equal to that of the flour or 100% in baker's terminology whereas sponge cake is made without any added shortening. Usually, the amount of fat in cake making ranges from 35–50% based on the flour in the formula. Despite the variations in shortening levels, all types of cakes, including sponge cake are improved by the action of emulsifiers. The term emulsifier is used to describe these ingredients because they all exhibit some ability to emulsify oil and water. Starch complexing, protein strengthening and aeration are the primary functions of emulsifiers. Cereal based foods constitute the largest end-use group of application for emulsifiers. (David Rusch .T., 1981. Emulsifiers: Uses in Cereal and bakery foods, Cereal Food World, 26(3): 111–115) Emulsifiers are important functional additives in modem food processing. Emulsifiers are surface-active ingredients that can emulsify and stabilise emulsions and perform many diverse functions in food product development. With the growing economic importance of the sweet goods sector, including cakes, cookies, whipped toppings and icings there is a growing awareness of the need to develop emulsifiers to serve this group of products. As the needs of the sweet goods industry become more complex, ongoing technology and product development efforts have resulted in a wide range of emulsifiers. Ideal emulsifier meets to contribute to enhanced emulsification, aeration, foam stabilization and starch complexing. Monoglycerides are the most basic and predominant class of emulsifiers, both in terms of technical importance and in total usage, which by some accounts make up 65–75% of total emulsifier usage. (Silva R. F., 2000, Uses of alpha crystalline emulsifiers in the sweet goods industry, Cereal Food World, 45(9): 405–410) Each bakery has its own way of preparation of emulsifiers. The need of the hour for bakers would be the water-based emulsifier system. The bakers' need is to be exploited and there is a good growth potential for the industries, which manufacture the cakes. Moreover, the emulsifier system can be useful to small as well as large scale bakeries.
Emulsifiers or surfactants are used extensively in baked goods to improve product volume, tenderize crumb, slow the rate of crumb firming, etc. such emulsifiers and surfactants are also known in baked goods industry as crumb softners, antistaling agents, dough conditioners and the like. Hereinafter, the term emulsifier will be used to represent both emulsifiers and surfactants.
The mechanism for emulsifier functionality is well known and is related to amphiphilic character and resulting surface activity of the emulsifier. The use of emulsifiers in specific applications is guided not only by the hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) of the emulsifier but also by handling characteristics conferred by its physical form (e.g., plastic powdered beads, flakes). Thus, as proper dispersion of the emulsifier is crucial to its ability to function in an application, the baking industry generally uses plasticised shortening—like emulsifiers, preheated paste like emulsifiers, fine powdered emulsifiers (especially dry mixes), or some combinations of these, for ease of processing (Pyler, E. J. 1988. Baking Science & Technology, 3rd ed. Sosland Publishing Company, Merriam, Kans.). It is desirable to produce an emulsifier system that enhances batter aeration, increases cake volume, produces a finer and more even structure with softer texture, and improves storage qualities.
Emulsification of fat in cake batter is one of the many functions of surfactant. Another characteristic of these additives is their ability to control crystal transformation of fats.
They have ability to interact with starch and protein. They improve the shortening action of fat by increasing its spreadability on the starch granules and protein strands. In cakes, emulsifiers provide such quality improvement as large volume, finer grain and texture, a more tender crumb, improved eating quality, a higher degree of symmetry and extension of keeping quality (Birnbaum H., 1978 Surfactants and Shortenings in Cake making, The Baker's Digest, 28–38). There is no doubt that cake batter is an emulsion. Different emulsifiers such as polysorbate 65, polysorbate 80, sodium lauryl sulphate, sorbitan monosterate, polysorbate 60, monoglyceride citrate, calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate, diacetyl sodium sulfosuccinate, sodium stearoyl fumarate, succinylated mono glycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, ethoxylated mono and diglycerides etc., will give different emulsion characteristics in the batter system. Most of the emulsifiers decrease the batter specific gravity except in the case of DMG for slight increase at low levels. In all cases, cake volumes improved (Del Vecchio. 1975. Emulsifiers and their use in soft wheat products. The Bakers Digest, 28–35, 52).
Reference may be made to Mac Donald and Douglas Bly. 1966 Determination of optimal levels of several emulsifiers in cakes mix shortenings. Cereal Chemistry 43, 571–584) wherein four emulsifiers, monoglycerides (GMS), sorbitan monostearate (SMS), Polyoxyethylene (22), sorbitan monostearte (PBS-60) and glycerol lactopalmitate (GLP) were evaluated as emulsifiers for cake mix. Results obtained from application of response surface methodology approached maximal response when combinations of all four emulsifiers were used. The proportion of each emulsifier to be used in the combination was more precisely estimated by use of a simpler design. The application of the principles of evolutionary operation (EVOP) to experimental design is believed to be unique. The results appear to justify use of such methods to determine the optimal properties of components in complex mixtures as in mix formulation.
Reference may be made to Kim and Walker 1992 Effect of sugars and emulsifiers on starch gelatinisation evaluated by differential scanning colorimetery Cereal Chemistry 69: 212–217, wherein differential scanning colorimetery (DSC) was used to evaluate the effects of sugar and emulsifier interactions on gelatinzation temperatures of three different starches.
Reference may be made to Pierce. M. M., and Walker. C. E., 1987 Addition of sucrose fatty acid ester emulsifiers to sponge cakes Cereal Chemistry 64; 222, wherein use of sucrose fatty acid emulsifier to sponge cake is described and they observed improvement of quality of sponge cakes.
Reference may be made to Wootton et al, 1967 The role of emulsifiers in the incorporation of air into layer cake batter systems Cereal Chemistry 44: 333–343, wherein the role of emulsifiers in the incorporation of air into layer cake batter system was studied. The most generally useful emulsifiers for the purpose of increasing the quality of cakes are those that have been termed as α-tending emulsifier because they tend to solidify in stable alpha crystalline form.
Although many types of emulsifiers can function effectively in cakes, several are prominent because of excellent cost/performance value. In cake mixes, the most common emulsifier in 10–15%, PGME, based on, and incorporated into, the shortening. Monoglycerides and mixtures of lactated monoglycerides with PGME also are used in cake mixes. (David. Rusch. T., 1981. Emulsifiers: Uses in Cereal and bakery food 26(3): 111–115).
Reference may be made to Del Vecchio. 1975. Emulsifiers and their use in soft wheat products. The Bakers Digest 52: 28–35, wherein the use of combination of emulsifiers like distilled monoglyceride, sorbitan monostearate, glycerol lactopalmitate and stearoyl-2-lactylic acid is described. In all cakes, volumes improved. Glycerol lactopalmitate and sorbitan monostearate produced an almost linear increase in cake volume as the level of emulsifier increased.
Reference may be made to Brooking Betty and co-inventors U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,366 (1980), wherein a blend of commercial grade emulsifiers suitable for use in a dry prepared mix, dry prepared cake mixes containing such a blend and processes for preparing same are described. The emulsifiers used are polypropylene glycol monoester, α-monoglyceride, and glycerol lacto ester. The drawback here is that the medium used for emulsifier system mainly comprises liquid triglyceride oils such as peanut oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil whereas the emulsifier composition in the present invention consist of different emulsifiers in the medium of water.
Reference may be made to Seiden and Mishkin, Martin. A., U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,184 (1987), wherein a emulsifier formulation was made for cookies. The formulation consists of 40% to 90% by weight of the composition, on the basis of monoglyceride content, fatty acid mono-glycerides having from about 35% to 99% fatty acid mononglycerides and from 1% to 50% fatty acid diglycerides, with at least 65% of said fatty acid consisting of C14–C20 saturated fatty acid and C16–C20 trans-unsaturated fatty acids and mixture thereof. The emulsifier system is meant particularly for the dual-textured cookies or drop cookies. The emulsifier system improved the texture, flavour, mouthfeel, taste and appearance of cookies. The drawback of the process is that the emulsifier system is meant for cookies, the main product is characterised by crisp texture, where as the present invention of emulsifier system is for cakes and the product is characterised by soft, moist texture.
Reference may be made to Tanaka et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,897 (1993) wherein the invention relates to a water-in-oil emulsion composition for bakery. It particularly relates to a water-in-oil emulsion composition for bakery, wherein an extremely high emulsion stability and a high proportion of aqueous phase can be achieved, capable of giving a product having an excellent flavour, a soft texture and a good meltability in mouth when used in particularly baked products. Though other emulsifiers are used, the particularly preferred are monoglycerides, diacetyltartaric acid monoglyceride, succinic acid and polyglycerol fatty acid esters. The aqueous phase of the emulsion composition of a high water content may further contain dairy products, common salt, sugars, puree or juice of fruits or vegetables, concentrates thereof and lactic acid fermentation products thereof as seasoning components, if required. The drawback is that the emulsion composition is composed of emulsifiers, other ingredients and has a high water content whereas in the present invention the emulsion composition is entirely a water-based one containing emulsifiers only. Also, the emulsifiers used here are different.
Reference may be made to Setser U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,285 (1996) wherein the process is concerned with reduced calorie, organoleptically acceptable cake products. Substantial reductions in high calorie cake ingredients (e.g. shortening and sugar) are possible through incorporation of relatively minor amounts of expanded liquid or gel mesophase emulsifiers into the cake batters. More particularly it is concerned with such cakes, and the starting batters wherein sweetening agent is reduced to a maximum of about 50%. Shortening is substantially, if not entirely, eliminated through use of an appropriate emulsifier system.
A variety of bulking agents such as polydextrose, sorbitol, maltitol, lactitol can be used to give appropriate structure to the final cakes. The drawback of the process is that the surfactant system invented is meant for low calorie cakes wherein the quantity of sugar and fat is reduced in the formulation and also bulking agents are added to give the structure whereas the present invention relates to the use of emulsifier system in cakes to improve the quality. The composition and the methodology of preparation of the emulsifier composition are different in this invention.
Reference may be made to Kuin Adrianus patent EP 0787434 (1917) discloses a composition comparing an emulsifier selected from propylene glycerol monoesters, monoglycerides and sodium stearyl lactate and a carrier selected from micro-particulate whey protein concentrate. The emulsifier and carrier may be co-processed by spray-drying/homogenization/other process to bring intimates commingling of components. This system is meant for baked goods. The drawback here is that the emulsifier selected here are different and it has a carrier whereas the present invention of emulsifier composition consists of different emulsifiers with no carrier system.
Reference may be made to Yuan U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,388 (2000), wherein a method of producing starch emulsifier composition by heating a starch in the presence of an emulsifier to form an elastic textured paste is described. The starch-emulsifier composition produced are useful in a variety of food and beverage applications like stabilisation of foam in ice cream, fat replacer in a variety of reduced-fat and fat-free foods such as cakes, pudding, sauces, margarine, cream cheese, yoghurt, fudge and other confections, cheeses and as a shortening in baked goods such as pies, cookies, breads, cakes, noodles, crackers and pretzels. The drawback is that the starch-emulsifier system is water based and could be used in variety of products whereas the present invention relates to the use of emulsifier composition in cakes.